1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices for drilling railroad rails and, more particularly, is concerned with a portable electric railroad rail drill apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical railroad track has a pair of elongated rails. The pair of rails receive wheels of train cars thereon. The rails are spaced laterally apart from one another and extend longitudinally and in substantially parallel relation to one another. Each rail has an upright configuration with a top portion, a base portion and an intermediate portion which extends between and interconnects the top portion and the base portion. The base portion is mounted to the ground. The wheels of train cars, particularly, rest on and roll along the top portion. Items, such as sensors, electrical cables, splices and the like, may be mounted to the rails.
Drill devices are employed to form holes in and through the intermediate portions of the rails. Fasteners are inserted through the holes to mount items, such as those mentioned above, to the rails. Railroad tracks are also laid in sections. Ends of adjacent track sections must be attached to one another. The rails of the adjacent track sections are arranged such that the holes of the intermediate portions of the rails are aligned so fasteners may be inserted through the aligned holes to secure the rails and thereby the ends of adjacent track sections to one another in the process of laying a track.
In the past, crews have used gasoline powered drill devices to form the holes in the intermediate portions of the rails. These drill devices generally consist of a gasoline engine, a mounting frame and a horizontal drill press. Problems exist, however, with these drill devices in that they are cumbersome, heavy and unreliable in cold weather. These problems impair the precision and ease of use of the drill devices.
A variety of drill devices have been developed over the years. Representative examples of drill devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,391,725 to Everett, U.S. Pat. No. 1,634,943 to Honl, U.S. Pat. No. 1,841,798 to Everett, U.S. Pat. No. 2,187,111 to Chandler, U.S. Pat. No. 2,376,524 to Talboys et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,908 to Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,505 to Stougaard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,196 to Harrow et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,556 to Solko and U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,650 to McCourtney. While these prior art drill devices may be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, many of them appear to have the same above-mentioned problems associated with gasoline powered drill devices.
Consequently, a need still exists for a drill apparatus which provides a solution to the aforementioned problems in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.